And I think American has lost one of its most respected and respectful politicians.
Quite so. A brave man who put his life on the line for his country.
Altho McCain could disappoint me even more than most politicians of whom I expected better, I admired him as a person and sometimes even as a politician.
Comparing McCain and Trump reminds me how far we have fallen.
As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H. L. Mencken (http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/35074.html)
Quote from: Tank on September 03, 2018, 09:47:22 AM
As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H. L. Mencken (http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/35074.html)
We reached that day last November. Hopefully, what goes down will also go up. We've hit the low point - now either we improve or we descend into Hell.
I didn't like several aspects of his persona. Still, I though he was an honourable man. What frustrates me, is random nobodies practically dancing on his grave. Like, he served his country and her people for half a century or more. What have you done?
I will not celebrate John McCain's death, but as a queer woman, I can't celebrate his life either. He lived to the ripe old age of 81, he had cancer for awhile before passing and he survived as long as he did in part because him and everyone else in Congress at some point decided they deserve a much higher quality of health care than the people they are supposed to serve. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law died of lung cancer at age 59 last month, less than a year after being diagnosed and my father-in-law was paying for most of her treatments out of pocket because she was on Medicaid and had been donut-holed because she was so sick she hit the cap for what they'll pay out in a year. McCain was just as closed-minded and conservative on many social and civil issues as his fellow Republican cronies, it's just that we have a tactless tangerine manbaby in the White House right now so McCain looks like a class act in comparison merely because he served in the military and also could conduct himself like an adult and not like a tantrum-throwing toddler who dodged the draft. 🤷
Quote from: philosoraptor on September 04, 2018, 12:09:05 PM
I will not celebrate John McCain's death, but as a queer woman, I can't celebrate his life either. He lived to the ripe old age of 81, he had cancer for awhile before passing and he survived as long as he did in part because him and everyone else in Congress at some point decided they deserve a much higher quality of health care than the people they are supposed to serve. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law died of lung cancer at age 59 last month, less than a year after being diagnosed and my father-in-law was paying for most of her treatments out of pocket because she was on Medicaid and had been donut-holed because she was so sick she hit the cap for what they'll pay out in a year. McCain was just as closed-minded and conservative on many social and civil issues as his fellow Republican cronies, it's just that we have a tactless tangerine manbaby in the White House right now so McCain looks like a class act in comparison merely because he served in the military and also could conduct himself like an adult and not like a tantrum-throwing toddler who dodged the draft. 🤷
I have missed your insightful posts.
Quote from: Tank on September 04, 2018, 01:32:02 PM
Quote from: philosoraptor on September 04, 2018, 12:09:05 PM
I will not celebrate John McCain's death, but as a queer woman, I can't celebrate his life either. He lived to the ripe old age of 81, he had cancer for awhile before passing and he survived as long as he did in part because him and everyone else in Congress at some point decided they deserve a much higher quality of health care than the people they are supposed to serve. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law died of lung cancer at age 59 last month, less than a year after being diagnosed and my father-in-law was paying for most of her treatments out of pocket because she was on Medicaid and had been donut-holed because she was so sick she hit the cap for what they'll pay out in a year. McCain was just as closed-minded and conservative on many social and civil issues as his fellow Republican cronies, it's just that we have a tactless tangerine manbaby in the White House right now so McCain looks like a class act in comparison merely because he served in the military and also could conduct himself like an adult and not like a tantrum-throwing toddler who dodged the draft. 🤷
I have missed your insightful posts.
I'm good for a Deep Thought™️ every once in a blue moon. ;)
Quote from: philosoraptor on September 04, 2018, 12:09:05 PM
I will not celebrate John McCain's death, but as a queer woman, I can't celebrate his life either. He lived to the ripe old age of 81, he had cancer for awhile before passing and he survived as long as he did in part because him and everyone else in Congress at some point decided they deserve a much higher quality of health care than the people they are supposed to serve. Meanwhile, my mother-in-law died of lung cancer at age 59 last month, less than a year after being diagnosed and my father-in-law was paying for most of her treatments out of pocket because she was on Medicaid and had been donut-holed because she was so sick she hit the cap for what they'll pay out in a year. McCain was just as closed-minded and conservative on many social and civil issues as his fellow Republican cronies, it's just that we have a tactless tangerine manbaby in the White House right now so McCain looks like a class act in comparison merely because he served in the military and also could conduct himself like an adult and not like a tantrum-throwing toddler who dodged the draft. 🤷
Really sorry to hear about your mother-in-law. =(
Yeah, we're in a very odd place where yesterday's Republicans are now not only seen as lesser evils, but are raised up, even by the left. I was fervently against McCain in the 2008 presidential election and I stand by that. Whether they're a "crass" Republican like Trump, or a "nice" Republican like McCain, I don't want them in office. None of them are good in policy. It just feels like Trump is... making things far more toxic. Not just because he is toxic (which has always been bad enough in itself), but because now the media is looking at figures like Bush and McCain with respect (I mean, not to crap on the man, I don't mean that at all. I just mean the media was really raising him up). Instead of properly seeing Trump as being the monstrosity born of the true colors of the Republican party, non-Trumpsters are going toward propping up "nice" Republicans who have bad, harmful policies, but know what to say and what not to say. I suppose I should have seen this coming. No lesson is learned from Trump's presidency. None at all.
Trump is a symptom of the Republican party, not an exception.
Is the president that bad on policy, though? Well, I suppose from the left, he might be, but... What did he do?
Quote from: Asmodean on September 10, 2018, 01:24:45 PM
Is the president that bad on policy, though? Well, I suppose from the left, he might be, but... What did he do?
Simply being in complete ignorance of the Constitution is a big problem for me. Then there's the imprisoning of asylum seekers, putting their children in cages, tax benefits to the extremely wealthy that have broken the nations budget, the trade war with China, alienating our closest and oldest allies, cozying up to dictators who can do no good for us, and in general acting like he's going down a checklist from Hitler's playbook on How to Create a Fascist State. And that's just the top of my head.
Sadly, politics in the US has produced politicians, rather than leaders.
In the past I'd have voted Republican, but at this point choosing between them and the Democrats seems akin to choosing with which poison you want to commit suicide.
"Voting is a terrible way to choose a leader. The others ways are worse, but it's still terrible..." - paraphrase, Silk, The Belgariad by David Eddings.
Quote from: drfreemlizard on September 14, 2018, 04:13:48 AM
Sadly, politics in the US has produced politicians, rather than leaders.
In the past I'd have voted Republican, but at this point choosing between them and the Democrats seems akin to choosing with which poison you want to commit suicide.
"Voting is a terrible way to choose a leader. The others ways are worse, but it's still terrible..." - paraphrase, Silk, The Belgariad by David Eddings.
There used to be a word that is very rarely used now, and then only applying to past generations of parliamentarians: "statesman". Probably because such people, with a broader, objective, balanced view of affairs, no longer exist in power.
Accepting that politics is a subset of greed it is, from personal through party to national and beyond, the origin of much of the unnatural suffering in the world. Politicians foment rebellion and start wars, soldiers (mostly) merely do as they are told.